Shadows of Near Nothing
by XD003
Summary: 13 Scientists, 13 Creations. 1 Destiny. Derxwna, along with his Neo-Nobody companions, travel across the worlds to reform the Organization. But to every thing, there must always be an Equal and opposite force - Ultimate Darkness. Large Summary inside
1. Day 358: Believe

Disclaimer: I do not, in any way shape or form, own the Kingdom hearts franchise. If I did, you'd be seeing Kingdom Hearts 3 on shelves already.

Summary: 13 scientists, all very close research partners of Ansem the Wise, devise a method to destroy the Organization XIII, and save the worlds from the chaos that will befall them. 13 experiments, all sent to different worlds after creations, wander to discover their purpose. 3 of them, the ones given shelter by Organization XIII, wonder constantly "Why are we here, what is our purpose. What is our Destiny." The Defeat of Organization XIII gives these 3 experiments the leverage they need to abandon their past lives, and march onward to their future.

...Yeaaaaah, I suck at Summaries in General. Anyways, this story is part of my Trilogy Saga, composing of 17 stories. This is part of Saga 2, "Rise of Darkness". Because the rest of the stories are Original Creations, I can't host them here. Anyways, enjoy reading. Please review, unless you want Derxwna to come over there and hack you all to bits with his Swords and Scythes. (Slight mentions of a Xion/Derxwna pairing, Boredom took over when I needed to rewrite this -Shrugs-)

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Shadows of Near Nothing

Introduction

(Day 358 – Believe)

The World That Never Was. A dark world, teetering close to the edge of the Realm of Darkness, and residing just within the confides of the Realm of In-between. This world is supposedly the Nobody of the End of the World, which was a Heartless World. The world was composed of two key places – The Dark City, and The Castle That Never Was. At the heart of Dark City stood a massive skyscraper – Memory Skyscraper. Throughout the city, lining along the streets and the area enclosing Memory Skyscraper, beings of black color with blue markings rose from the ground. They arose from every corner. These creatures were called Heartless, and the ones that rose from the ground were Neoshadow Heartless, a variety form of Pureblood Heartless. Behind the Castle, hanging high in the sky, was a moon shaped like a heart – Kingdom Hearts, the heart of all worlds. Albeit an artificial one, created by the slaying of Emblem Heartless by the Keyblade Bearers, it had its own purpose – to give existence to the Organization XIII, an elite group of people who lacked hearts – Nobodies – and craved to have back their humanity.

Walking into the area from the Fragment Crossing area, a black cloaked and hooded person walked into range of the Skyscraper that towered at the center of the city. More Neoshadows began forming behind him, slithering their body of darkness up from the ground below. The rain that was falling had suddenly stopped – the calm before the impending storm. The figure had stopped moving and stood there, looking around. Neoshadows had surrounded him on all sides and had been forming in greater numbers now. He took his left hand and materialized a weapon in it – a keyblade. He did the same with his right hand. The Oblivion and Oathkeeper keyblades – his trademark keyblades. He twirled them around before getting into his battle stance, and slashing wildly at the Neoshadows.

Meanwhile, in the Castle, watching from one of the many rooms, was another black cloaked figure, except his hood was down, so his black hair swayed in the open breeze around him. He had his piercing black eyes fixated down on the battle at Memory Skyscraper. His name was Derxwna Kapsyla, a Neo-Nobody. This form of nobody differed from the original breed – they had a heart. However, they weren't special nobodies like Roxas – the one fighting down at Memory Skyscraper, as well as the Nobody of Sora, The Chosen One, while having the looks of Ventus, a Keyblade Wielder of the past. He, along with an unknown number of them out there, were Artificial Nobodies, created with a Heart in place. Whatever the case was, Derxwna didn't think much of it. He just focused himself on the present.

"So, there's only seven now. Heh. Derxwna said coldly, as he rested his shoulders down on the support railing of the castles open area. "With the loss of Roxas, there goes the Organization's plans." he mentioned, before turning around to see two other figured standing against the wall, watching the fight from afar.

"Seriously guys, this stuff is boring as heck!" Derxwna began ranting, and when he started ranting about this topic, there was nearly nothing that could stop him. "We've been in the Organization longer then Roxas himself has, and we've never gone on a mission outside of the Realm of In-Between!" He turned again to face Memory Skyscraper and stared down at Roxas, groaning. "I figured that we'd have been given the task of bringing Roxas back to the Castle, but no. Xemnas just has to Give that order to Saïx. And all the blue-haired buffoon is doing is sending fucking Neoshadows after him! We could have been of WAY more use then those heartless!"His voice was agitated, full of confusion and regret.

One of the cloaked figured walked over to Derxwna and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You've heard what Axel has told us many times before. It's because we're Neo-Nobodies. They have no clue how much our hearts will affect our actions, or the amplitude to which our powers will increase." The hooded figure said, and pulled off his hood; the persons long silver hair flowed down the back of his coat, resting firmly over his shoulders. He directed his cerulean blue eyes at Derxwna, who just shrugged off his hand and sighed.

"They don't trust us, Hirxcs. Or at the very least, Saïx and Xemnas don't." Derxwna replied harshly to the taller male beside him, and whispered out under his breath. "_They didn't even tell us about Xion..._" Derxwna uttered out a small sigh. That name brought memories to his head and feelings to his heart that would never be requited now. Hirxcs just shook his head and sighed as well.

The third robbed figure walked over to the duo beside the railing and placed his hand on Derxwna's other shoulder. "We all know how you feel Derx, but there's nothing we can do about it. Xemnas has his own agenda, and it's not like we can interfere. We would just be destroyed otherwise." The shorter figure said, trying to console his friend. His short brown hair rested just behind his ears as he gave a small grin to Derxwna.

Defeated, Derxwna sighed and closed his eyes. "You have a point, Xenvest. It just irks me so much that we arent trusted like the others are. Not even trusted enough to be told about Xion and her true purpose when all the others found out." Derxwna opened his eyes and resumed watching the battle at Memory Skyscraper, only to see that a figure wearing one of their robes – Riku, the Organization Imposter – was now in combat with Roxas.

"A Key of Destiny..." Derxwna mumbled to himself and scoffed, "I wonder if you'll actually be able to being about that Destiny." he finished, as he watched as Roxas was defeated by Riku, who had taken on the form of Ansem.

**

(Day 443 – Rebirth)

The World that Never Was was now in ruins. The once exotic Castle that stood towering in the distance had begun to crumble and break. The city was nearly destroyed. All that truly remained standing was Memory Skyscraper. In front of the tall structure, though, stood the trio of Neo-Nobodies. They gazed at the Skyscraper, then at the Castle. One noticeable thing was missing – Kingdom Hearts. It had been destroyed when Sora and his friends had invaded the world and defeated the Organization XIII.

The trio of friends took one last glance at their home, and opened the Corridor of Darkness and, one by one, began to walk through it. They had vowed not to return till they had found the remaining nobodies and reform the Organization, under a different purpose. Before steeping through the portal, Derxwna took one final look at the castle and heaved out a heavy sigh.

"_Seems their destiny was only a dream they just sought to make real..." _He thought to himself and walked through the portal. "_Then why... why couldn't Xion be spared._"


	2. Chapter 1: The Begining of a Journey

Disclaimer: Kingdom hearts – Not mine. You know what would happen if it was mine.

A/N: If you're wondering why the chapters are going up so fast, it's because I did up to like, Chapter 8 on this story originally. I'm just heavily revising it now that 358/2 Days and Birth By Sleep are out. Once I reach the chapter after where I originally stopped, things may take a while to update. Also, as always, please remember to review. I'd love to hear opinions.

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Shadows of Near-Nothing  
Chapter 1

And so, the journey of the Neo-Nobodies began. Their first stop was the city that the Organization dared to never visit, even though it resided within the Realm of In-between. It was completely unnamed, except for those named that were given to it by the people living there. The city itself was covered in a dusk-like scenery, much like Twilight Town was. This town had a few apartments, lots of houses – it was an easy city to get lost in if you didn't know your way around it. Heartless crept around the city, but the townsfolk were used to it – especially since there was this "Heartless Slayer" going around, dealing with the infestations.

This Slayer was rumored to be a Vampiric Human, or having vampire like qualities. They wielded a sword which had vampire fangs embedded into the sword itself, and what seemed to be blood dripping down from the fangs. This rumor got Derxwna and the others intrigued, and they went out looking for traces of this Heartless Slayer.

They searched around the city and couldn't ding up any info out of the ordinary. Exhausted from searching for what seemed to be hours, Derxwna and the group walked into an alleyway and sat down on a few boxes, groaning.

"It seems as if we'll never find them" Xenvest said, defeatedly, before collapsing his head into his hands. The other two chuckled a bit and relaxed there for a while. During their period of relaxing, a whole swarm of Shadow Heartless had crept up on them and began making their twitching sound movements. Derxwna and the others caught notice of this and pulled out their weapons. But before they got a chance to strike, a figure wearing a long-sleeved black jacket descended from the buildings above, and landed in front of the heartless. Within the blink of an eye, they had materialized a sword in their right hand, twirling it like a baton. They darted at the heartless with lightning fast speed, and hacked away at the Shadows. At first glance, the slash apparently did nothing. However, upon closer inspection, the heartless were stoned like a rock, and had bite marks embedded within their bodies. Sometime after being turned to stone, the Shadows exploded into darkness.

"Whoa." The three of them uttered in unison, as they gazed at the ferocity of the person standing before them. The hooded figure turned and looked at them.

"The hell are you three buffoons staring at?" The figure asked them in a somewhat harsh tone, before making their sword fade back into the shadows from whence it came. The three of them stood there, awestruck by the performance.

"Thanks a lot, mister..." Derxwna began to say, but was cut off when the figure threw their hood off. It was a female under that hood which hid their face.

"Mister!?" She bellowed from the top of her lungs. The shout nearly made Derxwna fall backwards. "What the hell gave you the impression I was a dude like you three!?" she concluded, glaring over at the three of them. Her hair was multicolored, red here, blond there, black outlining. It was a rainbow of colors. Her eyes, though, struck fear into the hearts of Derxwna and his friends, even though they were a musky sky blue color.

"Well, it's just..." Hirxcs began to say, but was interrupted by the female

"Just WHAT!" Her voice echoed for what seemed to be the whole city, and nearly shook the whole alleyway. Xenvest placed his fingers in his ears to try and numb the sound down a bit.

As Hirxcs was about to continue, Derxwna took his place, "It's just that, the rumors going around town – the stories – they didn't say of what gender you were. Forgive us for making an incorrect assumption Miss..?"

"Zilx. Zilx Sterling." She said, as she crossed her arms into her jacket pockets. And raised an eye when she got a better look at them. Zilx walked over to them and placed a hand on her chin. "I take it you three are Neo-Nobodies, right?" She asked in a calmer voice. Xenvest took his fingers out of his ears and glanced over at Derxwna, as did Hirxcs.

Dumbfounded, Derxwna tilted his head and replied. "Yes, but. How did you know that? It's not like We're a common species." Zilx put on a grin and leaned against a nearby wall, chuckling a bit. This action seemed somewhat familiar to him, but he couldn't place his fingers on it.

"Well, it's not every day you see someone wielding a Sword and a Scythe like that," She said, pointing at Derxwna's exposed weaponry. He rolled his eyes and made them dissipate into the darkness from where they came from. Hirxcs and Xenvest followed suit.

"Besides," she began again, "A Neo-Nobody is easy to identify when you yourself are one." She gave the trio somewhat of a victorious glance; Derxwna was the only one out of the three who didn't instantly have their jaw dropped, instead, he returned the smirk Zilx was giving them with one of his own.

"_Zilx Sterling... Neo-Nobody of the Elegant Elizabeth._" Derxwna thought and extended his hand out to her. "How would you like to join us then, Zilx." he asked confidently, and continued "We sure could use the help of someone as... agile, and powerful, as you."

Zilx pondered it for a moment before giving her answer; she shook his hand and nodded her head in agreement. Derxwna clapped his hands together and grinned "Excellent. With you on our side, the Organization will be rebuilt under a stronger and more powerful name, with a new purpose in mind." Zilx simply nodded and threw herself off the wall and into the trio.

Derxwna had opened a portal to the nearest hotel and they began to walk through it. Zilx, the last to enter the portal, thought to herself. "_If these guys are true to their word... Maybe I'll find them again._"

Meanwhile, far in the shadows of the Realm of In-Between, located inside a once proud castle, sat a man watching the four of them enter a portal.

"_Soon my darlings... Very soon..."_


	3. Chapter 2: Oblivion

Disclaimer: We've been over this. I own nothing in this story besides the custom worlds and characters. If Kingdom Hearts truly was mine, things would be different.  
A/N: I am so sorry for the delay. The uploader wasn't working right, so all I did while waiting was work on the story. Currently working on Chapter 3 now. Also, sorry this chapter is so short. I'll make it up by making Chapter 3 longish.

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Shaodws of Near-Nothing  
Chapter 2  
Oblivion

After spending the night in the hotel, Zilx had explained to the group that there was a castle looming in the distance, and that she sensed some strange dark presence there. She wasn't quite sure what it was, and damn well knew she wouldn't inspect it – alone, that is. She dragged Derxwna and the other two out of the city, which led them to a crossroads of three paths with nothing but grass for miles. They strolled down a the center path, walking for what seemed to be hours. After a while, they noticed the scenery begin to change, and in front of them, towering in front of a warped background, a castle as tan-brown as you could imagine, with green triangles pointing out of almost every side. The ground which led to this castle was fragmented and broken, and a simple slip could lead you into the abyss below. This place was none other then the infamous Castle Oblivion, where half of the Organization XIII was sent to study memories, and where that half fell to the might of Sora and Riku.

Derxwna chuckled to himself, placing his hands behind his head, and remarked "So you dragged us all the way to Castle Oblivion because of some unknown presence?" The way he said that irritated Zilx a bit.

"I am _NOT_ scared, if that's what you're implying!" Zilx shouted, and materialized a metal bat from nothingness, whacking Derxwna over the head. He rubbed his head and glanced back at Zilx, who was giving him a death glare. Her eyes figuratively spoke the words "_Shut up or I will not hesitate to kill you where you stand._" Derxwna silenced himself, more-so out of respect then of fear – but that still didn't mean he wasn't afraid of her, though.

The four of them walked into the castle, as slowly shut the door behind them. The gazed about at their surroundings. They were in a long white hallway, with small pillars on the ground, and a bronze door in front of them. As they walked closer to the door, they noticed it was ajar. So they slowly pushed it opened and gazed ahead. In front of them was a long spiral staircase which apparently lead to the top of the castle, Floor 13. They had traveled along that spiral staircase for a while, battling Shadows and rouge Dusks that came across their path.

It took them 15 minutes to reach the top floor with all the distractions. They pushed the big bronze door at the top open and walked through it. Their eyes widened in shock. This floor was different from all the rest – it was basically a garden area. A variety of flowers in every square inch of the room, mostly roses though.

"This must have been Marluxia's room" Xenvest said, as he walked through the garden. As he got closer to the back door, he jolted his head straight up, taking a whiff of the air around him. He instantly bent down into a crouching position and muttered out between a silent snarl "_I smell darkness... and not of the good kind, either._" He looked like an animal ready to pounce on it's prey.

Derxwna walked over to Xenvest and placed a hand on his shoulder, telling him to relax. Xenvest nodded and stood up, dusting his cloak off. Zilx and Hirxcs walked up to Derxwna and Xenvest, as the four of them stared at the towering bronze door in front of them.

"Is everyone ready?" Derxwna asked, as those behind him nodded. He pushed the bronze door open, and the four of them walked into the chamber that lay ahead of them... or so they assumed.


	4. Chapter 3: Nightmares Creation

Chapter 3

Nightmare's Creation

Last time

***

_Derxwna walked over to Xenvest and placed a hand on his shoulder, telling him to relax. Xenvest nodded and stood up, dusting his cloak off. Zilx and Hirxcs walked up to Derxwna and Xenvest, as the four of them stared at the towering bronze door in front of them. _

"_Is everyone ready?" Derxwna asked, as those behind him nodded. He pushed the bronze door open, and the four of them walked into the chamber that lay ahead of them… or so they assumed._

***

"Ugh... Where are we" Derxwna groaned as he rose up from the floor... only to notice there was no floor under him, just some weird purple haze.

"Guys, where are you?" Derxwna shouted. He got no reply. He asked again, a bit louder and more worried. Still nothing. Frantically, he started looking around. All he saw was purple haze for miles and miles. He started walking, trying to find his friends. He wandered for a long time through the haze which seemed to span for miles beyond his vision. After wandering some more through the misty haze he was trapped in, he saw a door in front of him.Not knowing what else to do, he walked through the door and onto the other side, although nothing could have prepared him for what he saw.

"What the- This can't be- It's Twilight Town!" Derxwna exclaimed to himself. He saw himself hovering in the air right at Station Plaza. He could see the whole town from where he was. But he didn't have time to do any sightseeing, as he heard the sound of something forming behind him. He turned and his jaw flung open, as he stared at the creature behind him.

"N-N-No... It can't be." He said in utter shock, as he fell backwards, landing on the invisible surface that had formed in the sky. He gazed at what was ahead of him – Xion, in her Final Form when Roxas faced her the day she was "erased"

"_Aww, whats the matter? Didn't you miss me?_" She said. Derxwna looked around, trying to find sight of the spiky-haired blond haired teen who defeated her. While he was looking for him, "Xion" said "_Yeah, thats right. I'm talking to you!_" Derxwna turned back to her and stood up. All he could do was stare at her.

"_C'mon. Draw your weapon already!_" She spat out at him, as she materialized two keyblade swords in her hands. Derxwna just stood there. He was completely unable to materialize his weapons. He just stood there, awestruck that Xion was in front of him, not seeming to care that she was about to make him fade into nothingness. "_Fine then. If you won't attack... I WILL!_" Her words seemed to echo through the ghost town. She clapped her two swords together, as blue beams of light started to shoot out of the sky. A whirlwind appeared under the battle area, and drew Derxwna into the center. He struggled a bit, but if he really wanted to escape, he could. He was constantly getting battered down by the beams, but his mind was lost in a trance – he was thinking about the day Roxas and Xion fought atop the Clock Tower.

**(Day 357: Tears)**

_Derxwna had crept out of the castle, trying to stalk Roxas and convince him to come back. There was not much other places he could go, so he went to the most obvious place – Twilight Town. He had searched all over town for Roxas but couldnt find hide nor hair of the blond-haired Organization Member. He then finally walked to the Clock Tower – if Roxas was nowhere else, he would probably have been there, eating Sea-Salt Ice Cream. He had just made it to the top part of the tower, when he saw a weird portal appear in the sky, and bursting out of it was Roxas. Derxwna tried to creep closer to Roxas, but then saw a large figure – which vaguely resembled the Somebody of Roxas, Sora. However, through his attribute of Chaos, Derxwna was able to identify his enemy... it was Xion._

_He kept himself hidden behind the pillars at the top of the Clock Tower, watching the battle. He saw Roxas constantly attacking Xion, Xion attacking back. He wasn't sure who to root for. His fellow Organization member, well former member, or her..._

_He snapped out of his thinking to notice that Roxas had defeated Xion, and she fell to the ground in front of the tower, reverting back to her normal form. Roxas had also fallen to the ground. Derxwna rushed to the edge of the Clock Tower to watch what was going on._

"_No! Xion... Who else will I have ice cream with?" Roxas shouted. His voice was full of pain – even if Nobodies couldn't feel emotions, Roxas sure did a good job of showing them..._

_**_

Derxwna was shot out out his dream by a Trinity Limit Variant that Xion did. The attack blew Derxwna back, and he began falling... falling into darkness. He couldn't even see the Clock Tower anymore, only the the Xion that he knew, the human form, staring down at him, as he descended into the dark abyss. She waved at him, and then she too vanished into the darkness.

Meanwhile, inside Castle Oblivion, a man sat down on a throne, watching 4 crystal orbs in front of him. Inside the orbs were images 4 Neo-Nobodies, as they struggled with... an important enemy.

"_Let the games begin..._" The man said in a manipulative voice, as he let out a dark chuckle, elaning back against his throne.


End file.
